Animal&#39;s bowl

ABSTRACT

The bowl is divided into lower and upper compartments. The side of the lower compartment is formed in part, by a lower portion of the side wall of the bowl and, in part, by a upwardly extending wall which extends upward from the bottom of the bowl and terminates at a platform of the upper compartment. Alternatively, the side of the lower compartment is formed entirely by an upwardly extending wall which extends upwardly from the bottom of the bowl and which is spaced apart from the side wall of the bowl. The upper portion of the side wall of the bowl forms the side of the upper compartment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to bowls suitable for animal feed and more particularly to a bowl having lower and upper compartments in communication with each other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many breeds of dogs have relatively flat faces composed of broad flat noses and flat foreheads, cheeks and chins. Boxers and bulldogs are examples of such breeds. Many tabbies and some breeds of cats also have similarly shaped faces. When such dogs or cats cat from a conventional bowl having a round or conical outer wall, they have difficulty in reaching feed at the edges at the bottom of the bowl because their cheeks or foreheads obstruct their mouths from reaching the feed. In order to reach the feed, the animal will frequently push against the side of the bowl and upset it. The feed will then be scattered about the floor surrounding the bowl

I have found that if a bowl is composed of two compartments, a lower compartment located at least in part centrally of the bowl and an upper compartment surrounding the lower compartmnent, an animal having a relatively flat face or an animal having sore gums, missing or sore teeth and other medical problems with its mouth will have less difficulty in reaching feed at the bottom edge of the bowl. As the animal eats from the bowl, uneaten feed will settle in the lower compartment as the food above it is consumed. Provided the lower compartment is large enough to accommodate the animal's lower jaw, the animal can roll the food to a side wall of the lower compartment with its tongue where the animal can cat it without upsetting the bowl. Thus the bowl it easy for an animal to consume all of the feed in a bowl without upsetting it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the bowl of my invention has an interior defined by a cylindrical or conical side wall. The interior is divided into lower and upper compartments. The lower compartment is defined by a generally horizontal floor and an upstanding interior side wall which extends from the base to a platform of the upper compartment. The side of the latter compartment is defined by a upper portion of the side wall of the bowl.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The bowl of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bowl;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bowl;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the bowl of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bowl of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, the subject bowl is described as a container for dog feed but the description is not intended to restrict its use as a container for such feed. The bowl in fact is suitable as a container for the feed of other animals including cats and rabbits.

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the subject bowl has a floor or base 10 and a conical side wall 12 which increases in circumference upwardly of the base. The interior of the bowl consists of a lower compartment or space 14 and an upper compartment or space 16. The lower compartment is defined at its bottom by floor 10 and at its side, in part, by a lower portion 12 a of the side wall of the bowl and in part by an upwardly extending wall 18. The latter wall is generally U-shaped and extend outwardly from the floor and terminates at a platform 20 of the upper compartment. It too is U-shaped.

The upper compartment is defined at its bottom by platform 20 and at its side by the upper portion 12 b of the side wall of the bowl. The platform slopes downwardly toward the central vertical axis 21 of the bowl so that particulate dog food such as kibble or gravy and pieces of meat in the gravy flow toward the centre of the bowl and into the lower compartment. The upwardly extending wall 18 may be vertical or preferably is sloped gradually inward as its extends downward so that the dog food will flow downward to the floor of the lower compartment.

In FIG. 4-6, the bowl is conical in shape and its lower compartment 30 is defined by a floor 10 a, a annular upwardly extending wall 32 which is curved through its extent and which extends upward to an annular platform 34 of an upper compartment 36. The lower compartment is preferably located centrally in the bowl and no part of it extends to the side wall 38 of the bowl.

Like the platform and upwardly extending wall of the first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, platform 34 and upwardly extending wall 32 are sloped downward toward the central vertical axis 35 of the bowl so that dog food on the platform and wall 32 will flow toward the centre of the bowl and into the lower compartment of the bowl.

The dimensions of the lower and upper compartments will depend upon the size of the dog which will be eating out of the bowl. The dimensions should be such that the lower compartment accommodates at least the lower jaw of the dog and accordingly, a large dog will require a larger lower compartment than a smaller dog.

It will be understood, of course that modifications can be made to the structure of the bowl without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

I claim:
 1. A bowl suitable for animal fee, said bowl having a cylindrical or conical side wall having a vertical axis and being divided into lower and upper compartments; said lower compartment being defined at its bottom by a floor and at its side, in part, by a lower portion of said side wall and, in part, by an upwardly extending wall which extends from said floor and terminates at a platform, said upper compartment being defined by said platform and an outer wall defined by an upper portion of said side wall.
 2. The bowl of claim 1 wherein said bowl has a central vertical axis and said platform is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis.
 3. The bowl of claim 2 wherein said upwardly extending wall is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis.
 4. The bowl of claim 1 wherein said lower and upper compartments are at least large enough to accommodate the lower jaw of a medium sized dog.
 5. A bowl suitable for animal feed, said bowl having a floor, a side wall, a lower interior compartment and an upper interior compartment disposed vertically above said lower compartment, said lower compartment being defined in part by an upwardly extending wall which terminates at a platform and in part by a lower portion of said side wall while said upper compartment is defined in part by said platform and an upper portion of said side wall.
 6. The bowl of claim 5 wherein said upwardly extending wall is generally U-shaped.
 7. The bowl of claim 6 wherein said bowl has a central vertical axis and said platform is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis.
 8. The bowl of claim 7 wherein said upwardly extending wall is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis
 9. The bowl of claim 5 wherein said bowl has a side wall divided into said lower and upper compartments; said lower compartment being defined at its bottom by a floor and at its side by said upwardly extending wall which extends from said floor and terminates at said platform, said upwardly extending wall being spaced apart from said side wall, said lower compartment being generally centrally located within said bowl.
 10. The bowl of claim 9 wherein said bowl has a central vertical axis and said platform is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis.
 11. The bowl of claim 9 wherein said upwardly extending wall is sloped downwardly toward said vertical axis
 12. The bowl of claim 5 wherein the space bounded by said upwardly extending wall is at least large enough to receive the lower jaw of a medium sized dog.
 13. The bowl of claim 5 wherein said lower compartment is defined at its side entirely by said upwardly extending wall while said upper compartment is defined at its side entirely by an upper portion of said side wall. 